Controlling Sexual Differentiation in a Crustacean

Abstract

Sexual differentiation and reproduction in the animal kingdom is highly diverse. Crustaceans exhibit several sexual differentiation strategies all of which are thought to involve the control of an endocrine gland named the androgenic gland which secretes an insulin-like androgenic gland hormone (IAG) responsible for maleness as opposed to femaleness. Thus, we could refer to this system as the “switch” between femaleness and maleness, termed the IAG-switch. To study this IAG-switch we intend to apply novel approaches to find genes related to sexual determination in a shrimp species that as an adult is initially a reproductive male prior to becoming a reproductive female. The Northern spot shrimp Pandalus platyceros found in Alaska is such a species in which every individual changes sex from male to female during its lifetime. It presents an ideal model for such a study since each individual exhibits distinct male, female and transient intersexual stages during adulthood. All reproductive stages of P. platyceros, are available at the Alaskan partner laboratory so this study provides a unique opportunity to understand the basic molecular mechanisms that result in sexual differentiation. These collaborative studies will broaden our understanding of such endocrine pathways, their evolutionary significance and further our knowledge of a species with great ecological and commercial importance.